COLD!!!! but thankful....

Wow! It is freezing outside today....yet....God is still good. My prayer on this frozen tundra day.

Lord, thank you. Thank you for the life you give, the blessings, the continual love. It may be cold outside, but your love will never grow cold. Your grace warms our thoughts. Your mercy reminds us of where we should be going when we die....to that eternal hot place. You are good. You continue to prove it. Even when we ask "what are you doing?" you ALWAYS prove yourself to be the one and only Sovereign God. No one can comprehend your goodness, your love, your forgiveness. Our lives are but a vapor....yet...you care about us. You sent your Son for us. We bow in your presence. It's all because the blood of Jesus Christ, it covers me and raised this dead man's life. Father, we love you, we live for you, we worship you, we stand in awe, we can't wait for that day where we will see Jesus face to face. Pour out your continual grace and mercy on us. We need it. We try, we fail. We fail, you still love. Thank you, in Jesus Name Amen.

Stop and thank God today for all He has done, is doing, and will do.

SERVE FEST TONIGHT!

Remember to be at the church at 6:15pm, we'll be heading out at about 6:25pm.

We will be back to the church by 8:00pm.

THANKS!

Wow! It's been awhile!

Hey everyone....i know you've missed my posts on our blog page cuz so many of you have said you have! :) Here...we'll do a test. If you read this and come to me on Wednesday night (the 17th) which is SERVE FEST and say the words "Youth Group Blog Rocks!" then I will give you a free pop from the fridge.....we'll see how many check the blog! :) I won't be surprised if no one does...which is probably my fault for not keeping this updated more. MY BAD! I'll do better! I pwomise! Thanks!

ARE YOU PUMPED OR WHAT?

Tonight is youth group! YEE-HAW! Are you pumped or what?

Tonight we are going to be looking closely at our quiet time with God and how we can apply what we learn to our lives.

Maybe you have some questions about the quiet times or about the cre8tive discipleship program....come ready to ask tonight!

GET PUMPED! Tonight we get to worship God together! Yeah!

Wow...it's been awhile!

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I have posted anything. If you have been checking the blog I'm sorry nothing has been posted. Hopefully if you did log on you fed the youth group fish! :) So I heard everything went great last Wednesday! Thanks to Daniel and Hayley, Ronnie and Brooke for filling in for Loren and I. Thanks to Thomas and Brian for playing their guitars as well! Loren and I had a good little rest from the daily grind, but we are excited to see everybody Wednesday! Hope y'all can make it! Seeya then! PJ

BARN FEST is coming up!

Just a reminder.

BARN FEST - OCTOBER 30th

2-7pm

Leaving from the church at 1:15 pm

Cost:$5 due October 13th

WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S GAME! SHOULD BE A DOOZY!

HEADS UP!

The Bible contains many promises. 2 of the most important ones concern where you will spend eternity. For those who believe in Christ and trust Him as their Savior, God promises eternal life in Heaven. For those who do not trust Him as their Savior, God promises eternal death in the Lake of Fire. Be sure you know where you are going when you die, because you will be dead for a long time. There is no escaping death. 10 out of 10 people die, but will you go to heaven or hell?

Come this Wednesday night to learn a simple ABC plan of how you can know for sure you will be on your way to heaven! This is God yelling to you "Heads Up!"

WORD OF LIFE STUDENT MINISTRY comes to Claim the Name Youth Group in Muscatine, Iowa

This Wednesday Night we are going to be FINALLY starting the new Word of Life Program. The picture on the left is what the booklet will look like. Hopefully each of you gave the paper to your parents so they are aware of what we will be doing and what the cost is for the notebook. Everyone will need one in order to participate and earn rewards from the program. Yes, that's right! I said rewards. What are they? You will have to come on Wednesday and see for yourself. The booklets cost $21.99 each, but it will last you the whole year! So this Wednesday be ready to hear all about the program and have some fun too! The sooner you purchase your notebook the better! If you and your parents need help paying for the booklet's please see Pastor Jake. Thanks y'all! Seeya Wednesday!

SEE YOU AT THE POLE PICTURES!

SEE YOU AT THE POLE WENT GREAT TODAY!!!

There was a great turnout this morning at the Muscatine High School flagpole! We sang some worship songs, prayed as a large group, and prayed in small groups. Special thanks to the S.O.A.P. group at the high school for running the event this morning. It was neat to see students from the high school step out in front of their peers and sing and pray. God blessed us with great weather too!

Daylan, Hillary, Alexis, Heather, Scott, PJ, and Loren were there this morning from our youth group to gather for prayer. Thanks for coming guys!

Tonight we will hear from the Boucher's how their's went in Aledo!

ALLEN'S HAYRACK RIDE AND BONFIRE PICS!

Thanks for coming, thanks to Thomas' praise band, thanks to the Allen's for an awesome night, and thanks to God for the great weather!!!

THE LAST 2 CHAPTERS :(

Yes, it's a sad day in the life of a Claim the Name youth group member. Our beloved book has come to the end. BUT WAIT!!!! THAT MEANS WE ARE PREPARED TO GET OUT THERE AND SHARE THE GOOD NEWS!!!!

Thank you Mark Cahill for allowing God to use you to write this amazing book on soul winning. It has changed a lot of the teens (and even leaders) mindsets toward the lost, and has made them more bold to get outside their comfort zone and share Jesus with their friends and family! Praise the Lord, glory be to His name!

SEE YOU AT THE POLE WEDNESDAY!!!

Hey everyone! This Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. is SEE YOU AT THE POLE! Pastor Jake and Loren will be there with our cool t-shirts on and we want YOU to join us and the other teens from the high school. Remind others to be there and make sure you wear your new t-shirts! See you there!(no pun intended)

HAYRACK RIDE AND BONFIRE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!!!

Hey everyone! Hope you will be able to attend the hay rack ride and bonfire at the Allen's the Saturday Night! We will be leaving from the church at 5:00 PM. If you want to drive yourself (and your parents are o.k. with it) that would be fine. If you don't know how to get there you can follow PJ and Loren to their house. There will be; flag football, a gaga ball pit made out of hay bales, food, hayrides, bonfire, music from Thomas' praise team, and a quick salvation message! You won't want to miss it! This is an opportunity to invite your unsaved friends as well!

Any questions or if you need a ride let Pastor Jake know. Thanks!

This Wednesday - Chapters 11-12

4 chapters left in our book study. These 2 chapters (11-12) are great! Read them, highlight stuff, and be ready for some good discussion Wednesday night!

The times we have spent in discussion and prayer for the names on the WE ARE WITNESSES wall have been great! It's been awesome to see you guys sharing and looking for opportunities to witness to your friends/family. Take what you have learned and use it! James 1:22 says to BE DOERS of the word and not hearers only! We'll keep praying for you and your unsaved friends and family members!

BE BOLD, BE COURAGEOUS, AND BE NOT AFRAID!

Joshua 1:9 - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

See You at the Pole T-shirts are in!!!!!

Claim your t-shirts this Wednesday Night. If you are wondering what yours cost you can log onto www.syatp.com and look up your t-shirt.

*Reminder: see you at the pole is on September 22nd at 7am. See You There!

PARENTS MEETING THIS SUNDAY!

Please remember to remind your parents/guardians of the meeting this Sunday! It starts at 5:30 PM and goes until 6:30 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to inform all of the teens parents about the new upcoming Word of Life program and what they can do to help take part in it! If you have the little card I gave you on Wednesday night please give that to them or if you lost it, just tell them. Thanks everyone! Have a great weekend! PJ

4 REMINDERS....

1. Chapters 9-10 this Wednesday Night!
2. If you ordered a t-shirt for See-you-at-the-pole PLEASE bring your money this Wednesday Night. If you don't remember how much it was just bring $12. All the t-shirts are $12 and under. I'll have change ready.
3. SEPTEMBER 18 - Hay rack Ride and Bonfire at the Allen's house. Invite your friends! 5:30-9(ish)PM
4. EVERYBODY - please let your parents know we are having a parents meeting this Sunday at 5:30 pm here at the church. Encourage them to come!

GREAT JOB LAST NIGHT!

Thanks for everyone who helped with the Awana opening night last night! The kids had fun, everything went smooth, and no one got hurt! :) We will resume our regular Wednesday Night Youth Group Service next Wednesday, the 8th. By the way...Welcome new Jr. Highers; Adrianna, and Jakob!

SEPTEMBER 18 - Allen's Hayrack Ride and Bonfire

On Saturday the 18th we are having an activity at the Allen's house. There will be flag football, hay bale gaga ball, hay rack rides, food, singing, and a bonfire! The exact times of the activity will be announced soon. Mark your calendars and plan on attending and bring some friends! This is one of the best activities we do!

NEW TIME SCHEDULE for Wednesday's

Youth Group (and Awana) will now be from 6:30-8:00PM every Wednesday.

*REMINDER - This Wednesday night we are helping with the Awana Kick-off. We will go over Chapters 9-10 in our book on Wednesday Night, September 8th.

*Another Reminder - if you ordered a t-shirt for See You at the Pole, please bring your money this Wednesday night. Thanks!



This message was brought to you by, THE JAKES.

Reveal - See You AT The Pole 2010

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

Heaven Song by Phil Wickham

One day, we will all be in one of 2 places; heaven or hell. Where will you be? This song talks about how awesome heaven is going to be. Let's take as many people with us as we can!

Who have you witnessed to today?

Mercer County Wins Home Opener!

The Mercer County Golden Eagles won on Friday night in story book fashion as Walnut Park Baptist's Luke Boucher kicked a 29 yard field goal with just 8 seconds left on the clock to put the Mercer County Golden Eagles ahead by 3 points. The Golden Eagles would ultimately go on to win it with a score of 31-28! "I wasn't nervous. They called a timeout to ice me and I was like whatever," said Luke after the game at his home in Aledo, IL. Also on the Mercer County team is another Boucher boy, Jake, who plays Linebacker and Tight End for the Golden Eagles. "I was praying for Luke that he would make it," said Jake. Jake played a great game Friday night as well. However due to major cramping he was not able to jump up and down and cheer when his brother, Luke, put the pigskin through the uprights. "Every time I moved I was crampin' up!" On Sunday morning, 2 days after the game, School Superintendent Alan Boucher shared with his men's Sunday School class "Usually teams call timeouts to ice the kicker, but instead they iced the dad!" The ice was broken however when the field goal was made and Mr. Boucher went crazy high-fiving and yelling! Soon to follow was a chant by the crowd "Luke, Luke, Luke..." One of the neatest things about the whole story was that right before the final kick Luke was reciting a memory verse in his head that has become his favorite verse in life, I Corinthians 10:31. "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." The youth group and people of Walnut Park Baptist Church are proud of the Boucher's and wish them luck the rest of the season! P.S. the Muskies won Friday night too! :)

Boucher's Football Game

This Friday Night

We are leaving from the church at 6:00 p.m.

Cost: $2 per student, $3 per adult

We will be going over to the Boucher's after the game as well!

If your parents are o.k. with it you can drive yourself, but if you need to know how to get there you can follow the group there.

GO LUKE AND JAKE!

First day of School HUMOR...

How to know if you should be in the same grade as last year after the first day of school:

• The teacher asks you to name 6 wild animals. You say "2 lions and 4 tigers."
• You get home after your first day of school and your mom asks you what you learned today and you say "Not enough, I have to go back tomorrow!"
• The teacher asks you to name 2 days in the week that start with a T and you say "Today and Tomorrow."
• The teacher asks you to pay a little attention and you say "I'm paying as little attention as I can."
• The teachers asks you where your homework is and you say "I ate it because you said it was a piece of cake."
• Your teacher tells you your shoes are on the wrong feet and you say "But these are the only feet I've got!"
• You get home after your first day of school and immediately go to the couch and turn on the Backyardagains!

Hope everybody had a great day of school today!

Seeya at church tonight!

Top 10 bad excuses for not doing homework...

10. I didn't want the other kids in class to look bad!
9. Another student fell into a lake and I jumped in to save them and unfortunately my homework drowned!
8. Our furnace broke so we had to burn my homework to keep from freezing!
7. I wanted to frame the attention letter you're about to give me!
6. My mom used it as a dryer sheet!
5. I felt it wasn't challenging enough!
4. We had homework!?
3. I have a solar powered calculator, it was cloudy!
2. It's against my religion to do homework!

And the #1 bad excuse for not doing your homework...

My parents were sick and unable to do my homework last night. Don't worry, they have been suitably punished!

School starts tomorrow for some of you. Others have already started. Advice from your youth pastor: DO YOUR HOMEWORK! :)

Taken from www.bellaonline.com

STUFF for this Wednesday Night

Hey everybody, here are a few things to remember to bring this Wednesday Night:

1. Your schedules. Work, sports, band, and anything else you know of.
2. If you want to order a t-shirt for See-You-At-The-Pole bring your money. The most expensive t-shirt is $11.50. The least expensive is $7.95. You can buy a hoodie for $16.50. There are other things you can buy too like wristbands and lanyards. So bring your moo-lah if you want to order something.
3. Snacks or whatever you want to bring for Anthony. It is his last Wednesday night with us. :(
4. Your books and notes so we can highlight what we learned.
5. Stories of witnessing opportunities, and passing out tracts.

2 days left to pass out tracts!

You can do it!

Don't forget to pass out your tracts!

Are you on TRACT to pass out 10 tracts before Wednesday? Get out there and BE BOLD for Jesus Christ! Come ready to share your experiences Wednesday night! Also, make sure you have read Chapters 7-8 in your book and come ready to discuss things you learned. This has been a great study together so far! Let's keep it going!

2 words... Bouchers, Football

Friday Night, August 27th - let's go & support Luke and Jake Boucher and their football season opener! We will talk about details and times as the days get closer! ALSO...after the game we are tentatively planning on heading over to the Bouchers to hang out for awhile so plan on that too!

On the right TRACT!!!

This is a blog post straight from the hearts of your youth pastor and wife. Last night was VERY encouraging for us. To see the teens in our youth group willing and excited to pass out tracts was awesome! It was very cool! God will totally honor you for be willing to step out of your comfort zone and reach people with the gospel. I am super-excited about what God is going to do in the youth group this year. When we are done with the book we are going through we are going to be starting a new "program" called Word of Life Student Ministries. I haven't really told anyone about it yet, but it's going to be amazing! I know in my heart that God has some great things in store for each of the teens and the group as a whole. So to hear that you guys want to go to a Hawkeye game to pass out tracts really verifies in my mind that this group is ready to go BIG for God! If you are confused about this blog post...it will all make sense when I talk about it at the end of September. This Saturday night we are having a sponsor meeting to get the ball rolling with the new student ministries idea. So for now....go and be BOLD for Jesus Christ! I can't wait to hear how God used you to pass out at least ten tracts! I will be praying for you guys to have boldness and then great opportunities!

THis WEnesDAy nIGHT

This Wednesday Night we will be discussing the questions from Chapter's 5 and 6. Chapter 6's title is pretty cool, "If they're breathing, they need Jesus." Come ready to talk and discuss. Also come ready to share times you had witnessing to the people who you wrote on the wall.

*GIRLS, Bible Study today at Loren's house!*

S.N.A.C. this SUNDAY Night

HA! Actually it stands for Sunnday Night After Church!

This Sunday Night, the youth group is invited to caravan out to the Boucher's house for a SNAC. We will all be leaving from the church church at the same time so you won't need to worry about directions. It takes about a half an hour to get there and then the same back so make sure you talk to your parents and get permission.

It should be fun! THANKS to the BOUCHERS!!!

Our new brother in CHRIST!

Scott Tanner accepted Christ as his Savior on Tuesday, July 27th!!!

Welcome to the family Scott!

SR. HIGH CAMP PICTURES...a few anyways...

Luke and Cassie

PJ, Jake, and Anthony

Cassie, Jenny, Loren, Kendra, Leigha, Brooke, and Morgan Luke and Kendra

Just a small glimpse of the great week at Sr. High Camp!

See You At The Pole

September 22, 2010

http://www.syatp.com/

"See" you there!

yOUTH gROUP tONIGHT!!!

hEY yA'LL! tONIGHT wE fINALL sTART THE bOOK "One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven!" Come prepared to write a name on the WE ARE WITNESSES wall.

Just a reminder; The International Give Away is coming up on Saturday, August 14th. If you can go that would be awesome! Let PJ know when you can. Thanks!

If you remember, PRAY for Daylan Oldfield as he will be traveling back from California very soon!

Sr. High Camp pics and stories coming soon!

This is a pretty busy week for me (PJ) cuz of the youth service and preaching on Sunday morning and Sunday School and the all church camp out, etc, etc, etc.....but Sr. High pics and testimonies will be on here soon....i pwomise.

By the way...YOUTH SERVICE this Sunday night! (6:30 pm) Invite your family and friends!

SR. HIGH CAMP...4 DAYS AWAY...

We will be leaving from the church at 7am on Monday morning, July 26th. Please try and be here around 6:30am so that we can load all of the luggage and have a time of prayer together. We will be arriving at the camp around 11am and will be eating lunch at the camp soon after. We should be home around 1pm on Saturday the 31st of July. We will have the teens call their parents on the way home to let them know the exact time.

What to bring: there was a list passed out a couple of weeks ago, follow that. If you don't have a list there is one posted on the youth bulletin board next to the nursery, or look in a camp brochure.

Be Praying for great week together! Pray for great weather, great fun, great food :), and a great time around the Word of God.

*Warning* Be ready for God to work in your heart while you are at Sr. High Camp!

TONIGHT'S FEATURED COLLEGE...

Baptist Bible College in Clark Summit, Pennsylvania. Tonight we'll be watching a DVD presentation of this college and it's ministries. "The BBC experience includes everything you expect from college - strong academics, championship sports teams, lifelong friendships, and just plain fun. Passion, faith, and commitment are real at BBC. Take a look fort your self." - taken from some literature of BBC.

S-A-L-V-A-T-I-O-N

This Wednesday night in youth group we will be learning how to lead someone to Christ! We are 1 week away from starting our new study from Mark Cahill's book

"One thing you can't do in heaven."

START THINKING OF SOMEONE YOU KNOW WHO NEEDS TO ACCEPT CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR!!!

Wuh Wuh Wuh One week away!

Sr. High Camp is just one week away!

3 most important things to bring:

1. Your Bible
2. An open heart to let God challenge you
3. Deodarant :)

We will be leaving from Walnut Park at 7:00 a.m. next Monday morning! Please be here at 6:30 a.m. so we can load the luggage into the trailer! Thanks! Start praying now that God will work in your hearts this week and that Scott will get saved!

2 words.... MOUNTAIN DEW!!!

Yes, 2 new Mt. Dew's have arrived in the

Claim the Name Youth Room fridge!

.....................................................

MT. DEW WHITE OUT

MT. DEW TYPHOON

Of course regular Mt. Dew is in there as well!

One day we should have regular Mt. Dew, Code Red, Voltage, White Out, Typhoon, Live Wire, Baja Blast, Distortion, and Diet Mt. Dew in the fridge at the same time! There are more flavors, but a lot have been discontinued.

Happy Caffeine to you all!